Green Archers battle FEU in do-or-die match for finals berth

Coming off a huge win against the FEU Tamaraws last Saturday, September 27, the DLSU Green Archers were able to force a rubber match for a finals berth against the same team. Vanquishing FEU’s twice-to-beat edge, La Salle is now at a precarious and a must-win situation to keep their back-to-back championship hopes alive.

The Tamaraws swept the Green Archers in the elimination round and consequently overcame the pesky La Salle defense to earn another win in the playoff for second seed. However, last Saturday in their first Final Four match, Coach Juno Sauler and his lads refused to end their season early, finally defeating FEU, 94-73, for the first time in UAAP Season 77.

Vital cogs for both squads

Jeron Teng came up big for the Green Archers, notching 25 points, seven rebounds, and three assists to overcome his measly eight-point performance in their loss in the playoffs. Graduating players Norbert Torres and Almond Vosotros were also instrumental in La Salle’s bid, contributing 18 and 17 points, respectively, in what could have been their last UAAP game as Green Archers.

Come the rubber match, the performance of Teng, who leads the La Salle squad in terms of scoring average, and the senior players are crucial in breaking the defense of the formidable FEU squad. Moreover, the performance of outside shooters in the likes of Kib Montalbo and Julian Sargent would also be important, since FEU’s defense focuses on limiting La Salle’s inside points. Other usual gunners, Arnold van Opstal and Jason Perkins, would need to step up their game in order to find the holes in FEU’s pressing defense near the basket.

Meanwhile, for FEU, the performances of key players, Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia would be vital in providing an offensive hustle to the Morayta-based squad. During the last game, FEU relied on the hot shooting of Belo, who racked up a career-high 32 points. However, despite Belo’s stellar performance, nobody else wearing an FEU jersey scored in double-digits, thus settling for a huge 21-point deficit in the loss. Tolomia seemed to be one of the major missing links for FEU in the last game, as he was only limited to seven points in 32 minutes of action. Interestingly, in all the three wins of FEU against La Salle this season, Tolomia had an average of 21.3 points per game, very far from his seven-point performance in their recent loss.

History in the making?

Since the Final Four format was introduced in the UAAP, there has not been any team that has won the virtual best-of-three series, after losing in the playoff for second. If the Green Archers emerge victorious tomorrow, they would be the first team in the history of the league to achieve such a feat.

Tomorrow at 6 pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, La Salle and FEU shall collide for the fifth time this season, with the finals berth at stake. Will the Green Archers make history happen and keep their back-to-back championship dreams alive? Or will the FEU Tamaraws bounce back towards their much-awaited finals appearance?